Sunday, February 9, 2014

The original deployment, Lancastrians facing North and Yorkists facing South

The armies assembled!

The Lancastrian horde

Buckingham's men in the foreground, along with Prince Edward's troops in front

Yorkists - Salisbury's numerous right-flank Ward

Turn 1

Things start with a general advance on the Lancastrian side, as Henry Beaufort pushes on aggressively with his men on the left flank, and the cavalry in the centre begin to trot forwards. On the Lancastrian right however, all is still. Some confusion, or a mix-up over signals, perhaps? Somerset casts some worried glances to his right, wondering what could be wrong, as messengers gallop frantically off to bring news.

The initial moves

The full tabletop, seen from the east

Turn 2

On the Yorkist side, the battle-line moves forward to finish deploying
along the ridge-line in the centre and slightly beyond on the flanks. The movement forward by Salisbury cuts the range to Beaufort’s
oncoming horde, and an archery exchange swiftly breaks out. Casualties begin to climb, and one of the
early notables to fall is the Lancastrian Lord Moleyns. Frustrated at watching the cavalry manoeuver
to deploy between Eldon Wood and Wiggold Copse, Somerset determines to set off himself for
the mysteriously inert right wing, and find out what the hold-up is!

First advances

Turn 3

The battle continues to develop in this lop-sided way as the conflict
develops west-to-east along the line.
The archery fire continues on the Lancastrian left, with the Yorkists’
numerous archers taking a deadly toll – now William Tailboys of Kyme becomes yet
another captain to be randomly struck down by an ill-fated arrow, threatening
the whole advance. Beaufort has now lost
two of the four captains he was relying on, through pure chance in the
arrow-storm. In the centre, the cavalry
mass continues to mill around between the two woods and deploying very slowly,
absent any direction. The man who should
be providing this – army commander, the Duke of Somerset – is currently on the
Lancastrian right, investigating trouble.
Buckingham seems full of excuses for delays, and intent on foot-dragging
– plus he seems to find a curious way of dragging every conversation round to
the post of Chancellor of England. Somerset could be
forgiven a surge of frustration: here they are on the very field of battle,
with the noise of his own son’s ward already engaged in the distance, and
here’s Buckingham choosing this moment to start negotiating over his rewards
for not just dropping out! Still, not
all Lancastrians on the right wing are so calculating: the front rank is mostly
lords and retainers of Prince Edward (who is bloodthirsty as only an 8-year-old
boy can be) under the command of the hard-nosed Andrew Trollope, who eagerly
take their cue from Somerset
to begin advancing.

Beaufort's advance hit by the arrow-storm

Lancastrian cavalry prepares to charge in the centre

Turn 4

he first combats begin! The
Lancastrian left under Henry Beaufort strikes the Yorkist line and desperate
fighting erupts. The Yorkists are
numerous but unable to bring all their numbers to bear thanks to a bend in the
river Churn; while the Lancastrians are somewhat scattered and attacking
piecemeal, due to Beaufort’s eagerness to get them into combat and out of the
arrow-storm. Initially things seem to be
going well, as the Yorkist Baron William Bonville is cut down with a mortal wound amidst
the struggle. On the Lancastrian right
Trollope continues to press on at a fast pace and pulls roughly level with the
rest of the army, but Buckingham is dawdling in the rear. Finally, Somerset’s efforts at persuasion bring
rewards – in return for the Chancellorship of England, Buckingham is once again
confirmed as 100% Lancastrian and agrees to join in. Somerset
can only hope that his delays haven’t proved fatal!

Beaufort's attack goes in on the Yorkist right

Turn 5

The Lancastrian left has inflicted much destruction, but it swiftly
becomes obvious that the more numerous Yorkists are able to sustain the
fight. Lancastrians begin to edge back,
and then disaster strikes – Ranulph Dacre, Baron of Gilisland is nearly swamped, his men rout and he is
himself killed in the chaos that becomes a general panic. Beaufort has to pull the remaining fighters
back to stabilise his line, and fall back onto his reserve – the slow-moving
Scottish mercenary contingent which is slowly working its way up to Baunton.

In the centre, the cavalry have finally assembled themselves into a line
for a charge. The delay has gone on for
so long however, that Edward of York on the ridge in front of them has cycled his
spearmen into the rear and brought his own household troops to the front, so he
can begin firing with his longbows on the inviting target. They duly do so, sending riders tumbling out
of the saddles as the line continues to mill around helplessly. Elsewhere, the Yorkists in front of the
Lancastrian right have moved forward as far as the Welsh Way Road, where
Trollope is determined to engage them.
To the rear all the Lancastrian host is now in motion, promising to
finally bring to bear all the strength it has against the Yorkist centre and
left.

Initial attacks repelled on the Left and Centre of the Lancastrian line

The tabletop version of the above

Trollope advances on the Lancastrian right

Cavalry charges in the centre

Beaufort pulls back to his Scots mercenaries, on the left

Turn 6

Beaufort’s battered survivors fall back on the Lancastrian second line,
and Salisbury is practically inert in his efforts to pursue. Congested rear ranks and disordered front
ones all combine to mean he cannot interfere as Beaufort swiftly
withdraws. Fighting persists in
isolation, with Baron Ralph Greystoke's and Bonville's men still grappling with each other even
as the rest of the field gives way. In
the centre the slaughter of the mounted knights continues, as the Lancastrian
horse struggles to make headway through the Yorkist fire. On the Lancastrian right however, Trollope
has clearly determined on victory or death.
Charging forward, he strikes the Yorkist line and shatters his
opponents. Captain John Fogge of Ashford is swept away and cut
down in the rout, while Trollope’s men press onward towards the retinue of the
Duke of Norfolk – their next target.

Trollope slams into Ashford, cutting down half his men!

Slaughter in the centre, as Irish kerns are ridden down

The situation - Trollope pushes on the Yorkist left, while the Lancastrian centre approaches

Turn 7

Slowly, Salisbury finally gets the large Yorkist right to begin
shuffling forward and begin building some momentum. Baron Greystoke’s last Lancastrians flee and are
slaughtered, the last remainder of the Lancastrian attack finally gone. Beaufort now prepares his survivors and the
Scots to hold out, with the Lancastrian left now undeniably on the
defensive. In the centre the cavalry
forges on through the mud and up the slope, pounding into the Yorkist
line. John Neville, Baron Raby is wounded and captured
against York’s own household troops, but Thomas de Scales manages to charge home against
some of the Irish levies watching York’s flank.
The unarmoured kerns are slaughtered and pay a heavy price, but incredibly manage to hold their ground – at least long enough to let the
Burgundian pikemen in reserve force their way to the front and repel the
cavalry. The chaos of the mounted attack
and the high Irish casualties break up the pike formation however, so even
though they triumph as expected, they do so at a disproportionately high cost
to themselves when gaps appear in their line and horsemen charge within. On the Lancastrian right, Trollope drives
onward into the Yorkists. James Touchet, 5th Lord Audley fights
at his side, and manages to kill Thomas Parr of Kendal, routing yet more of Rutland’s men and
leaving only the second line of Norfolk to oppose them, slightly back and up on
the ridge-line.

The battlefield, viewed from the West

Turn 8

Relative peace descends on the west of the field, with both sides
collecting themselves. In the centre,
the mounted attack is spent – shattered by high casualties in close combat or
whittled away by the longbow fire on approach.
The terribly few survivors retreat back by Eldon Wood, as Somerset leads
on his infantry to try and maintain the pressure on the battered Yorkist
centre. On the right, Trollope rushes
ahead towards Norfolk, before pausing to unleash a point-blank volley of arrows
into his men. One arrow catches the Duke
himself and kills him, leaving his appalled followers to face Trollope charging
in – there really appears to be no stopping this bloodthirsty man!

Cavalry battles in the Centre

Prince Edward's men, led by Trollope, advance on

Turn 9

Salisbury tries to force his advance, sending a group ahead under the
leadership of Edward Neville, Baron Abergavenny, to engage the Lancastrians between Baunton village
and Eldon Wood. Abergavenny throws
himself at the Scots under Walldingham, but the over-eager advance proves no
more successful for the Yorkists than when the Lancastrians tried it! His exhausted followers cannot break the
Scots spear-wall, and rout when pressed – Neville being cut down with his
fleeing men. Beaufort leads from the
front, inspiring the best out of his remaining troops. Beyond this, the rest of the field experiences
a moment of relative peace – across the Lancastrian centre and right, troops
gather and brace themselves for the renewed assaults that are imminent as the
lines pull ever closer together, arrows flying ceaselessly back and forth.

The Cavalry repulsed and spent - the infantry struggles up.

The battlefield. In foreground, Beaufort holds off the Yorkists

Turn 10

Robert Ogle and Baron Southwick arrive in Salisbury’s ever-thickening line, battering
against Beaufort’s exhausted survivors.
Somerset in the centre is trying to press more of his infantry forward,
but due to the wreckage of the cavalry and the restricting woods to either side
of him, they keep on struggling on piecemeal.
On the right however, there is only good news for the Lancastrians –
Trollope’s men have crested the hilltop, the first Lancastrians to do so. Alongside him is Henry Fitzhugh, with Buckingham’s
men following on behind and not even managing to become engaged yet (although Lord Audley contrives to get himself killed by an archer.) Rutland looks well and truly doomed, as he
tries to rally the now-dead Norfolk’s followers.

Scots at Baunton village are pressed by numerous Yorkists

Heavy attacks in the centre, and each side advances on its right-wing.

Turn 11

The Scots continue to hold out on the Lancastrian left, despite mounting
losses on both sides. Pretty much only
the personal interventions of Beaufort himself are keeping the Lancastrians
going. In the centre, Somerset’s men
attack up the ridge and are repulsed, but not without heavy losses on both
sides – and Somerset ultimately has more strength to draw on, to say nothing of
it being better quality (many of York’s troops are Irish levies and irregulars,
around a core of his household retinue.)
On the right, Trollope’s hard fighting pays off as Norfolk’s men are finally
routed and swept away. Amongst the
losses comes a great prize – Rutland, younger brother of the pretender himself,
is taken prisoner! Alongside Trollope
comes yet more Lancastrians under Henry Fitzhugh, who charges in against Yorkist Baron Montagu’s
men. Both armies now seem to be in the
condition of having their left-wing on the very brink of collapse.

In the foreground, Trollope reaches the hilltop

Turn 12

Beaufort throws in yet more heroics to try and hold off the masses of
Yorkist troops now closing in on him, and it can’t be done. The last of his retinue is routed and the man
himself is wounded, taken as prisoner on the field. Only a tiny nugget of Scottish mercenaries
still persist in the fight against Ogle’s men, while some levies of Longbowmen
still infest Eldon Wood. Besides this
however, the Lancastrian left-wing has effectively been destroyed. In the centre, Somerset’s attacks persist
against the stubbornly unmoving –but ever thinner - Yorkist line. There is an alarming moment when some
household troops under Tudor break and run, against all the odds, but yet more
of Somerset’s blue and white-liveried troops press ahead. On the right, Trollope’s exhausted men are
driven onwards once more, turning around the Yorkist battle-line which has been
left leaderless by Rutland’s loss.
Fitzhugh adds to the scale of the success when he routs Montagu’s
men. Some of York’s flank-troops under John Dynham of Care-Dynham now mark the end of the main line, down below the ridge at the
crossroads between the Fosse Way and the Welsh Way – who now have Lancastrians
deep in their left-rear, further up the slope from them! The
only reserves he has to hand are the Irish levies backing up his own line
(heavily engaged to the front) and a single unit of levied archers under
Howard, the remains of their left-flank.

The Lancastrian left and centre - the right-wing is just visible on the top-right of the picture

Turn 13

The Scots slowly give ground, pressed back by the far greater numbers of
Yorkists. Somerset presses on with yet
more charges on the York centre, which are yet again held off. All attention is on the right however, where
Trollope pushes his remaining men on to rout the levies under Lord John Howard – surely,
after routing two lines of retinue troops, mere levies will be no
challenge? Amazingly, it is not to
be! Trollope himself is killed in the
thick of the fighting by freak chance, and then his remaining band of followers
duly rout. A grim end to a spectacular
run of success by the Lancastrians, but surely just a temporary setback -
Howard’s levies have been shredded by the combat, and even with Trollope’s
spearhead gone, many more Lancastrians are flooding up the ridge.

Beaufort leads the Scots in a last-stand

Trollope is killed in the sanguinary fight with Howard's levies

Turn 14

The Climax of the battle! It’s
clear to both sides that the conflict in the centre will be decisive, so
Salisbury begins to try and move some of his reserves eastwards to help out
York. Walter Devereux, Baron Ferrers attempts to flush out the
annoying obstacle of the Lancastrian levies in Eldon Wood, but the bowmen prove
surprisingly effective as they fire out of the trees – Ferrers takes heavy
losses and falls back, thoroughly chastened by the experience. What will become of the York centre if they
cannot switch reinforcements to it? The
problem is then removed, almost as soon as it was revealed: Lord Mauley’s command
of Scots are routed after a hard battle and the collapse spreads panic down the
Lancastrian line – Ralph Grey of Heaton’s levies in Eldon Wood begin to panic and stream to
the rear, and by the time he has stabilised them they are out of the protective
trees. Only a tiny collection of 50 or
60 men around the Scots captain Lord Walldingham are still holding out, before being
swamped.

In the centre, Somerset puts
himself at the head of Richard Wydville, Earl Rivers’ men and charges headlong into York’s household
troops under Baron Edward Cobham, who manage to hold out but they remain locked in combat. Besides them charges John Skydmore of Kentchurch, who strikes Baron Fitz-Warine at full-speed and nearly sweeps his men away. Fitz-Warine himself falls in the combat and
the unit seems certain to run, dooming the entire Yorkist centre. Only Edward of York himself saves the day,
leading from the very front where the fight is thickest – miraculously, he
comes out of it alive and unwounded. The
line holds, but barely.

Edward has also made another dangerously risky move – he has turned his
supporting Irish levies to face the Lancastrian right, leaving his centre in
genuine peril of collapse. He has no
choice however, as Howard’s levies are now being cut down by Fitzhugh’s archers
and Buckingham’s men draw in ever closer.

The Lancastrian right - the levies rout out of Eldon Wood

Somerset leads Wydville's men from the front!

Turn 15

Walldingham and his Scots die-hards are finally killed and swept away,
when Herbert is joined by Southwick on the flank. Only Heaton’s spooked levies behind Eldon
Wood are now left, so Salisbury turns his remaining men in his second-line to
the East, to help York’s centre – Eldon Wood now taken as Irish kerns sweep
forward to seize the woodland and prevent the Lancastrians re-occupying
it. Every last Yorkist unit in reserve,
however battered and tired, is being flung forward into the centre – even the
beleaguered Burgundian pikemen are pressing ahead once more, seeking a chance
to finish off the remnants of the Lancastrian cavalry. Rivers and Somerset continue to strain
against Cobham’s household men up the hill, but they prove immovable despite
ever-rising losses. On the right,
Howard’s levies rout off the field under relentless archery fire from
Fitzhugh’s troops, once more opening the Yorkist rear to the Lancastrians. The flank of York’s line under Care-Dynham is
now attacked by Dudley, but Dudley himself is killed and his men flee the
field. Care-Dynham’s men are now
presenting a persistent problem to the Lancastrians – as Buckingham goes
ever-deeper into the Yorkist position, then Care-Dynham becomes increasingly a
blockage between the Lancastrian Centre and Right.

The last Scots die-hards are eliminated

The Lancastrian right encircles the Yorkist rear - Care-Dynham visible in the fore-ground, the nearly isolated York flank.

The centre - Yorkist reinforcements rush in from the north of Eldon wood

Both sides need to get reinforcements from a victorious flank into the critical centre, as the lines pivot

Turn 16

Herbert and his men are held at bay by Heaton’s levies, who once more
put up an unexpectedly destructive show of archery. Most movement from Salisbury is now north of
Eldon Wood, rushing to join the fight in the centre – commands under Ferrers,
Ruthyn, and even more of the Burgundian pikes are flooding into the gap between
Eldon and the ridge. Somerset knows it’s
make-or-break time: leading from the front, he leads once last charge from
Rivers’ men at the exhausted remains of Cobham’s troops, and finally
succeeds! York’s household men break and
are overrun, and finally the Lancastrian centre has climbed the ridge – final
victory is in sight! Has it come too
late, however?

Buckingham, on the ridge that was once the Yorkist left-flank

Somerset in the centre, at the moment of rupturing the Yorkist line that has resisted him for so long.

Turn 17

As Somerset surveys the wreckage of the Yorkist centre from the
ridge-line, he tries to rally his disorganised and exhausted troops. Too late however, as the Irish levies under Baron John Scrope pass through the remains of Fitz-warine’s old command and swiftly wheel
around, falling on their flank. Pushed
beyond endurance and too disorganised to turn and face the flank attack, his
followers begin to run and are cut down by the fleet-footed Irish. When the latest slaughter is over, Somerset
himself is among the dead – cut down on the bloody slope where he came so close
to success…

The news spreads fast down the line, even to the Lancastrians on the
right who believe themselves on the brink of triumph. Buckingham’s men have been confronted with
more of York’s Irish levies, and have taken cruel advantage of their lack of
ranged weapons – Roger Vaughan of Tretower’s spearmen have been shredded, with more than half
their number mown down by the Lancastrian longbowmen. However, with news of Somerset’s death, this
moment of final triumph now becomes but the last vengeful strike before defeat.

Rivers and Somerset flanked, and killed, by Irish levies.

Turn 18

The collapse is on! The Yorkist
reinforcements are rushing into the centre, being led – improbably – by the
Burgundian pikemen who have wound up by accident at the forefront. The only slender chance of avoiding a
collapse in the Lancastrian centre would be for Buckingham to rapidly transfer
some of his strength to shore the centre up.
There is a problem with this however – Care-Dynham’s band of retinue
troops is squarely in the way. If they
can be swiftly cut down, there may be a chance to salvage something. Fitzhugh is on the ridge above him, so he
turns and charges downhill into his flank.
He hits hard, but is just too weakened by long combat to rout him. Care-Dynham manages to resist, turns, and
counter-attacks – only for the demoralized Lancastrians to break. The battle is over, and the final strokes
come from the Burgundians who roll over Baron Lionel Welles’ exhausted troops and signal a
general collapse in the Lancastrian centre.
Henry VI flees the field, and Buckingham senses it’s time to be
somewhere else – he begins to withdraw his force back along the Welsh Way.

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About Me

I am a wargamer that with many old sets of figures covering the Seven Years War, Ancients, WW1 and ACW in miniature. Most are now banished to the loft, but this blog should cover their use now and again.